Malkangiri: After 17 years, Odisha may get another ‘Budhia Singh’ from Malkangiri district. A six-year-old Tanush Prasad Sethy, also known as Rudra has also shown Budhia-like marathon running spirit.
According to sources, the standard I student of Malkangiri Kendriya Vidyalaya ran 17 km as part of a mini-marathon organised by the district administration as part of Malyabanta Mahotsav on Thursday. He ran the marathon uninterruptedly and surpassed other senior participants.
Rudra has been practicing running for over 5-6 km daily since he was three years old. “I really enjoyed the mini marathon and covered 17 kilometres distance during the event from Korukonda to Malkangiril,” Rudra told local media.
Meanwhile, his family members are hopeful that Rudra will represent the Indian team in future. Rudra is currently training under coach D Rabindra who is his maternal grandfather. Rabindra was a police constable and also a football player.
An organiser of the mini-marathon said that Rudra is the pride and the main attraction. “We discovered another Budhia Singh in form of Rudra in Malkangiri,” he added.
Notably, there were around 150 participants in the mini marathon which was organised with an aim to send a message of fraternity and unity transcending social barriers.
It is pertinent to mention here that in 2006, at the age of four, Budhia Singh ran a gruelling 65 km between Puri and Bhubaneswar in a little over seven hours. He became an instant sporting phenomenon in India as people began talking about the prospect of him bringing home a medal in global sporting events. Many even said that was the next Milkha Singh.
